thecapitol | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who| Everyone
What| A chance for the teams to meet, mingle, and, lets be honest, for goodbyes to be said.
Where| The common area.
When| Evening before the attack, about a day after Creuntus' network announcement.
Warnings/Notes| Time is going to be a little ~~more~~ wonky then normal, if you haven't noticed. They will be going out to attack "tomorrow" but that thread will not, likely, be posted tomorrow, to give people time to play in this one, etc.

There is food and drink, plenty of it, but no decoration, and it is clear this "party" is no sort of celebration. There is the small spattering of Peacekeepers still in the Capitol, those not on duty at the edge of the boundary.

A long table at the front has a set up for each team. Everyone has a folder with who is in their team, who is watching their team, a list of the various weapons they will have. On the list is a flame thrower, a handful of small explosives, and an automatic weapon for each team member. There are no weapons laid out for the Tributes to handle, however - those were waiting for them elsewhere, for when the mission truly started. Nor does the folder mention that the weapons all switch off outside of the combat area, but it's also not a secret, or a surprise.

Each folder also includes the rather useless stats and images they have of the creatures-the photos are blurry, the stats mainly stack up to "they are very deadly" and a collection of the various bits of information put forth by other tributes who seem to know more then the Capitol. Last, a detailed map of both the neighborhood, and the tunnels for them to study.

Another table has folders for the intel, with much of the same information. Last, a third table is set up for those that are staying at home. Those folders contain some basic first aid information, and a list with what sort of basic medical supplies and food stuff is in the training center.

Each table set up has an Avox or two to hand out the folders. Creuntus is no where to be seen, and you would be lucky to catch any of her team. She knows where she doesn't want to be. The furniture has been dragged to facilitate the conversation of small to medium sized groups. Say, about the size of a team and their Intel.

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"The Capitol may not, but I do." Maximus said soundly, Ferox settling in against his side and purring lowly as he unconsciously scritched its head.

"I am not doubting his ability, or yours, but there must always be priorities. If the Capitol will not keep those priorities in mind, then we must."

"If you're not doubting our abilities, then why does age matter? Why are you so insistent on upholding these priorities?" She lifts a single brow at him, leaning back on her hands, which are pressed flat against the tabletop behind her.

"Karkat's not some human child. He's a troll, and we've been playing this survival game since the moment we were hatched. He's a competent fighter. I've watched him mow down enemies without earning even a single scratch. That's the only thing that should matter right now. Age is irrelevant."

"Because in the end he has a chance at more years and more purpose than I," Maximus said bluntly. He tilted his head, watching her closely. It had absolutely nothing with Maximus having an ingrained death wish. No, never.

"It is my duty to protect the lives of those I am meant to mentor, my district or no. And your duty to do what is right, rather than to answer to his - or your - pride." His voice wasn't harsh, just solemn and straightforward.

"Any soldier can fall, regardless of ability or age, when facing an unknown enemy with an unknown will."

"That's true. Battle isn't quite as picky as I think you're hoping that I'll be. You admit that any soldier can die out there, but then you expect me to give priority to certain ones--specifically the ones that theoretically might have more years left to live than you."

Terezi snorts, partly out of amusement and partly out of exasperation. "If that's the logic that you're standing by, I might as well add Dualscar to that list. He's got centuries on you, but centuries still left to go. As for Karkat, you might outlive him anyway. No one actually knows what his lifespan is."

On that sobering note, she continues: "The point is, your logic is flawed. There's no telling what age or purpose someone might live to. My duty is to complete the mission and bring all of you back alive, regardless of age or skill or purpose. And that is what I'm going to do."

It's been a while since he's been taken to task by someone who he could have fathered, and he's not sure whether he's amused or annoyed - both feelings slightly over shadowed by her statement 'No one actually knows what his lifespan is'. He knows nothing about trolls, but he puts that little bit of information somewhere in the back of his mind. He doesn't like it.

Arguing the point further seems pointless, however, so he offers her a bemused smile. "When you have a son of your own, you may tell me my logic is flawed, and you may be right," He said gruffly. "But as long as you agree not to make special note of my masculine features I see no reason to undermine your duty."

A grin flashes across Terezi's lips at the mention of his masculine features again. She likes the fact that he can smile. That's a bit of a relief to her.

"It is going to be just a few years past never that I have any offspring. Trolls don't work like that, either. But I will make sure to pencil detailed descriptions into my notes of all your masculine features. With charts and graphs and hand-drawn pictures of each chiseled facet. And there is nothing you can do about it."

"Trolls don't have children?" He asked, arching an eyebrow. "Do you simply spawn into being from the will of the Gods?"

He'd heard stranger things, it was a legitimate question. He continued to look bemused at the rest. "Somehow I have a feeling that someone in the capitol has already beat you to it," He murmured lowly.

"I will have to congratulate them on their quick hand, then! And request copies of this artwork so I can add to it." If he thinks she's joking about that, the poor man has another thing coming. She might just have to give him a taste of her personal brand of art. But that's for another time...

"As for children... No. I think I mentioned the hatching thing before! Genetic material is collected from adults, mixed together, and given to the mothergrub. She then lays thousands of eggs, which hatch into grubs--troll babies. After going through the Trials, a lusus--something like an animal guardian--picks up a surviving grub and takes it away to raise it. Most young trolls from my time don't even see adult trolls until they're adults themselves, and trying to find out who your parents are?" She encases the word with finger quotes. "It's completely out of the question. Basically impossible."

He looks a little taken aback by that, and then frowns, deeply.

"My apologies," He says gruffly. "I had thought the term 'hatchling' a joke, only." He let out a hard breath. It saddened him, deeply, as someone to whom children and raising children was so important - perhaps the most important thing he had ever done, despite the loss of his son.

"I can see how it would be difficult to understand my priorities, if you grew up in such a harsh way."

"It wasn't that harsh. Most trolls have a guardian to protect them. They're just not genetically related." Most trolls, but not all. Not her. Briefly, Terezi wonder what it would have been like if things were different... If Redglare had been her guardian in the way that human families work. It's a disturbing thing to imagine, and a little embarrassing, too. She might have liked it, if she could ever stop placing her ancestor on a pedestal.

"Besides, most adult trolls are too busy, too important, or too dead to bother with raising grubs. Getting attention from an adult isn't usually considered a good thing."

Edited 2013-10-28 04:01 (UTC)

Too busy, too important, or too dead.

He glanced away.

"It is not always so different, with men." But that was all he was going to say about that - thinking about his son, what he might have done differently... All it brought him was pain. He let out a hard breath and cleared his throat.

"...I thought humans did the whole parent thing." He just said that they did, but from the smell of his expression and the breath she hears, Terezi knows that there has to be more to it than that.

"Are you trying to say that they don't?"

"In the best of circumstances, with the best of people, they do." He was not a man to admit his own failures to a stranger, especially not ones wrapped up in grief, but that didn't mean he couldn't speak of them obliquely. "But we are rarely our best, and the circumstances are often much worse."

Even obliquely, Terezi seems to understand what he's trying to say. He doesn't want to talk about it, but there's some assumption that it's not in her nature to just let lie. Especially when she gets the feeling that they aren't true.

"Circumstances are what they are, but from my point of view... We might rarely be our best, but that does not mean we are bad."

"No. It is no certainty, sure. But a man may also feel he is doing his best, and be burning the world down around him. With children, that is even more the case. You cannot know what damage you have wrought, until it is done."

A tight breath.

"And some do not see the end result at all."

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